


Five Times They Had Personal Space Issues and One Time They Did Not

by snowin_you



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Brief Non-graphic Sexual Content, Coarse Languages, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-01
Updated: 2012-10-01
Packaged: 2017-11-21 08:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowin_you/pseuds/snowin_you
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When an angel wished to learn more about human beings and came to Castiel for help, Castiel turned to the Winchesters. One issue that constantly came up, however, was about some space that humans claimed to be personal. </p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times They Had Personal Space Issues and One Time They Did Not

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoilers:** Up to early S6  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Supernatural and its characters. However, that Stu is mine and, no, you can't have him even if you love him!  
>  Big applause to my wonderful beta **VoicesInTheWind**. This work wouldn't be so beautiful without you. Thank you!

~:~:~

The first time, Dean was furtively surfing the internet for new updates of Busty Asian Beauties while Sam was reading his papers. There was a flutter of wings, louder and harsher than usual. When the brothers looked up they saw Castiel with another young man in a suit, his hair short and dirty blond, his eyes bright and blue, his lips curvy thin, his jaw strong and his forehead wide.

"Hello, Dean, Sam," Castiel greeted the two Winchesters.

"Hi, Cas," was Sam's reply, but he kept his eyes on the newcomer.

"See you got company." Dean closed the lid of the laptop with a loud smack and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes, too, were on the young, and if he was honest to himself, handsome assumed-angel.

Already Dean didn't like where this was going.

"This is Patrick," Castiel introduced, seeing two pairs of eyes locked cautiously on his brother.

"An angel?" Sam asked. Castiel nodded and Sam seemed to relax a bit, but not Dean.

"And what the hell is he doing here? Got another frigging task for us?" Dean rasped, which made the new angel flinch, caught off-guard. He quickly straightened his back and resumed his stoic appearance, hands clasped in front of himself.

"No, he, uh," Castiel was reluctant to make his plea. "He wishes to learn more about humans." He bashed it out in one quick blow, as if he might not finish it if he prolonged.

"And?" Dean raised a questioning brow. His face twisted into that of jerkish skepticism.

Cas sighed. He always assumed Dean would understand everything about him by now, but most of the time that was not the case. "He came to me for help, and I came to you."

"And what the hell are we supposed to do with him? Babysit?" He was getting irritated. Cas, of all people, should have known he wasn't particularly fond of angels. Dean now held them all to be dicks. That is, except _his_ angel.

"Dean," Sam grunted in a warning tone.

But before Dean could snap back at Sam, Castiel replied, "No. We will just … observe."

Sam glanced sideways at Dean, who crossed his arms tighter and fumed silently. "That should be okay, I guess." He stole another glance at Dean, who did not protest, so he took it as a yes.

"Thank you."

And with that the two angels disappeared.

"Cas!" Dean yelled, causing Sam to jump.

The two angels reappeared exactly where they were a second ago.

"What are you, creepy stalkers?" Dean snarled. "If you want to observe, you might as well make yourselves visible to us."

Cas looked nervously between Sam and Dean.

"He's right," said Sam. "It's kinda rude to lurk around."

"Okay."

After a brief moment of silence, Sam resumed his reading. Dean returned to clicking aimlessly on the laptop. It was mostly a pretense, however, as he was no longer interested in Busty Asian Whatever. He kept his eyes firmly on the screen so he wouldn't have to see the unwelcome guests. (No, one of them was greatly welcome, the other wasn't.)

Cas slowly walked over and flopped down on one of the beds, leaving Patrick glancing between the three of them nervously.

But nobody paid attention to the anxious angel. Sam was looking at the newspapers, Dean at the laptop, and Castiel wasn't of much help either as his eyes were fixed firmly on Dean. Patrick looked between the two humans and it wasn't hard for him to know who was not threatening.

Sam jumped out of his seat when someone (who wasn't Dean, obviously, because Dean was sitting opposite him) breathed down his neck. His heart almost stopped. He would have grabbed a gun but it wasn't like they carried guns around in their motel room. He breathed hard when he saw who it was. "The hell, dude?" he said. "You scared the crap out of me."

"My apologies," the new angel said, stepping closer to Sam, who retreated a few steps back. Patrick followed. His gazed was fixed on Sam, who kept retreating back until he hit the wall. They were mere millimeters apart.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, trying to thrust back as far into the wall as he could. He could hear Dean cracking up from across the room.

"Observing," Patrick replied bluntly, eyes glued to Sam's face.

"Take two steps back," Sam ordered.

"What?" Patrick broke off his trance with a frown.

"I said, take two steps back," Sam repeated. He swore Dean was practically rolling on the floor laughing now.

At least angels don't ask why. Patrick took two steps back and stood still.

"You know, the first thing you have to learn about us humans is we have this thing called personal space," Sam explained when his heart was no longer beating so fast and the hysterical laughter from Dean had died down.

"How can space be personal?" A deep knot appeared between the angel's eyebrows. Now Sam understood why Dean found angels -- no, Castiel -- cute.

Sam stumbled over his words, "Let's just say we keep our distance, okay? If you want to observe us, you need to stay, like, about this far from me and Dean, at all times. Understood?"

Patrick nodded.

"Good."

Sam carefully moved away from the wall, and Patrick did just as he was told: he kept two steps away from Sam, _everywhere_ he went. It was like a not-ugly duckling following its mother. Dean laughed like nothing could ever be funnier.

~:~:~

The second time, they (which meant Dean, Castiel and Patrick in this case) were in a diner after Sam had practically begged Dean to take the angels out so he would have some room to breathe. Castiel agreed, as it would be a good opportunity for his brother to observe someone other than Dean's brother.

So there they were -- Dean on one bench and the two angels on the other. They spoke fervently to each other in a language Dean didn't understand, and they sat too close for a large bench, Dean noticed with much agitation. (Right, angels have no sense of personal space. Who cares?)

"Hey!" Dean growled, louder than he intended, causing the two men to start simultaneously. "Humans' rule: when you're with other people, talk in a language everyone understands. Got it?"

Patrick nodded keenly.

"Now try to order something." Dean tossed the menu maybe too roughly but Castiel was staring at him with that intense glare and he needed to do something harsh so he wouldn't _blush_.

"But we don't need to eat," Patrick said with a frown.

Castiel kept his eyes on Dean when he replied. "We don't need to eat," he said. "We just need to order." He then turned to Patrick when he sensed his brother was frowning deeper. "Then you can try human food. I've tried cheeseburger and it was very nice."

Dean was taken aback by the tone in Castiel's voice. It was so gentle, like how a big brother should talk to his baby bro, a tone he never expected to find under Castiel's soldier-like appearance.

He felt his stomach flutter.

"Cheeseburger it is." Patrick was bouncing in his seat, grinning widely.

Just then a waitress came up to take their order. She had long legs and broad hips and smelled very nice, Dean noted, and he flashed his signature smile that had her face reddening.

"What can I get you?" she asked, trying hard not to let her voice tremble.

Dean leaned a little closer. "A phone number would be nice."

And she might have leaned in a little closer, too, to give Dean a better angle of her cleavage. "Well, aren't you here to eat?" she purred.

"That too," Dean replied with a wink. "Two cheeseburgers and," he turned to Castiel, "what do you want, Cas?"

Castiel's reply was stiff. "Chicken salad." Not that he wanted salad, but he didn't need to eat and later they could doggy bag it for Sam.

"Chicken salad for him," Dean said, returning his attention to the waitress. "I want a beer and a strawberry milkshake for this kid, and," he turned to Castiel again, "you?"

"Apple juice."

Dean turned to the waitress with a big smile. "Apple juice it is."

The waitress quickly jotted their order down, saying the food would be served shortly, and walked away, swaying her hips a little too seductively, knowing Dean was watching.

Dean gave a low whistle before turning his head back to the table.

"What was he doing?" Patrick asked Castiel innocently. He did not notice, or chose to ignore, that Castiel was inwardly _fuming_. "He emitted a very passionate vibe. That girl, too, though hers was a bit more radiant."

Dean had the decency to blush.

"He was flirting," Castiel said squarely, his deathly glare set on Dean.

"Can I flirt with you too?" The angel's naive request came as a shocking surprise to both the hunter and the other angel. Dean shifted awkwardly in his seat and Castiel smirked.

Cas turned to Patrick with a sickly sweet smile. "Of course."

"No!" Dean retorted swiftly, earning startled looks from both angels. "You don't flirt with other dudes. Come here, switch place with me." Dean beckoned him over and was glad that angels don't ask _why_.

He slipped down next to Castiel, who tried to slide away but Dean caught him by his arm and held him tight.

"Now, when the girl comes to serve our food, you ask her to show you the restroom and you follow her, okay?"

Patrick nodded eagerly. "Then what?"

Dean mentally rolled his eyes. He thought he had gotten rid of his problem so he would have some alone time with Cas, but apparently his problem came with great enthusiasm. "Then on the way you tell her your name, simple as that." He feigned a confident smile.

When the waitress returned, she was slightly taken aback by the change of seats. Dean thought she must have slipped her phone number onto his plate, judging by the way she had to cross her arms to place the food in front of him. He made sure she saw how he was holding Cas. With a feeble 'Oh' on her lips, she was more than glad to show Patrick where the restroom was.

"You shouldn't lie to him," Castiel said once the waitress and Patrick were gone.

"I didn't. There are many ways to flirt." He looked over to Patrick, who seemed to just tell her his name because they were awkwardly shaking hands. "It seems to work alright."

Castiel tried to pull his arm away again, but Dean held it tighter and leaned in closer. "Look, I'm sorry I flirted, okay?" he said quietly. "But you two were sitting too close and I didn't like it."

For a Winchester, he was quite surprised he could be so honest to himself.

"But we're --"

"Brothers. Yeah, yeah, I know. Every angel in the entire celestial bodies is your brother or sister, Cas; doesn't mean I'm okay with you getting intimate with any of them."

And Castiel may have blushed because he never wanted to be intimate with anyone but one.

~:~:~

The third time, the four of them were watching re-runs of America's Funniest Home Videos because what could be a better way to learn about human beings than watching them do something stupid? Sam and Dean were on the couch sharing a bucket of popcorn. Patrick kept his distance, which meant he dragged a chair over and sat two steps away from Sam. Castiel was on the other chair next to Dean.

The Winchesters were laughing frantically while the angels could only frown.

"Why would you laugh at a child falling off a chair and rolling on his head? It must not be a very pleasant experience."

"Shut up, Cas, or I swear to God --" Dean couldn't finish his sentence because he rolled into another frenzied bout of laughter, slapping hard on Sam's lap. Sam was rolling too, almost knocking into Dean's head.

Both angels frowned at the humans. Then Patrick got up from his chair and stood upright between the TV and the couch, keeping his two-step distance, arms crossed.

"Why don't you two have personal space?"

The three of them gaped at the standing angel. Silence fell and Dean wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

Sam switched off the television. "It's because we're brothers," he explained.

"Being brothers doesn't make it okay!" Patrick countered.

And Dean had to glower at Castiel because he was fucking cracking up laughing.

"No, I suppose not." Sam smirked. "Let's put it this way. The closer people are, the smaller the personal space. Got it?"

Patrick nodded, keeping his eyes down on the carpeted floor. Clearly he was contemplating hard. "Then Castiel must be on top of Dean," he concluded.

"What!" Dean squawked. "Why?"

"Because you and he share a very profound bond," he replied matter-of-factly.

This time it was Sam who _almost_ rolled on the floor laughing.

~:~:~

The fourth time, they were following a lead in an abandoned house somewhere in Nebraska. A demon had been killing single mothers whose babies were under three years old. It was past midnight as they moved around the house shining flashlights.

Even in the dark, Patrick could still keep his perfect distance. Sam had lowered it to one step now. Well, the closer the smaller, right? The childlike angel had been tailing them twenty-four/seven for a full month now (except when duty called), and had been nagging Sam about when they would be close enough to ease the gap.

Sam couldn't deny considering it. Call him an envious type, but he looked at Dean and his guardian angel and it always bugged him that he didn't have one to call his own.

"Sam?" Patrick called from behind him.

"Hmm?" Sam hummed in his throat, not looking back. He knew he would be asked questions, but he never got tired of answering them. For an angel, Patrick was a very curious one. He found him more pleasant company than Dean, though. At least Patrick did what he was told, and he was helpful.

"What does it feel like to be mortal?"

Sam chuckled. "I don't know, dude. Never actually died. Remember?"

There was a brief silence before Patrick blurted, "Does sex feel good?"

Sam stumbled and Dean snorted too loud. "What?" Sam asked, jolting back in shock.

"I heard there was an angel who deliberately fell from grace to enjoy sex."

It was Sam who snorted this time. "Oh, yeah, about that. Why don't you ask Dean?" Then he whispered to the angel, "He fucked one."

But Dean heard him anyway. "Bite me, bitch," he snapped. He swore he _heard_ Castiel's jaw clench in the dark.

"But Castiel isn't fallen!"

For a moment, everybody froze at the angel's innocent remark. Then Sam burst out laughing.

"No, dude, not him," Sam said in an affectionate tone. "I'm talking about Anna."

"You had sex with two angels?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh God, I'm outta here." He wanted to bang his head on the nearest wall he could find. He didn't need to be reminded of his past mistakes, especially not in front of Cas. He turned to walk away, but Castiel grabbed him by the arm.

"There is still work to be done here, Dean."

Dean huffed before continuing his search of the house.

"And you, Patrick," Cas continued with an authoritative air. "You know our Father designed sex to be shared between two loving people."

Even through flashes of light, Sam could see the sheepish look on Patrick's face.

"I know," Patrick said, his voice saddened. "I asked if it feels good, and no one answered my question."

Sam reached an arm over to ruffle his hair. "It's a question you'll need to find the answer to by yourself."

Patrick rubbed his head where Sam's strong hand was seconds ago, as if to capture the warmth of it. He would make sure to find out the answer to that question.

"Have you ever been in love, Sam?" the angel asked, moving on with his question while they were walking up the stairs to the second floor of the house.

Immediately, Sam's heart sank. He thought of Jess and he would be lying to say it didn't hurt him anymore. "Yes, I have."

"What does it feel like?"

"Uh, confusing, I guess?" Sam chuckled, trying to relive his memories. "You'd be happy to see her happy, sad to see her sad. When you're not with her, you'll be thinking about her every minute, and when you're with her, you'll never want to leave. You don't mind her flaws and forgive her mistakes. You'd do anything, anything at all, to keep her safe. Basically, her wish is your command."

Patrick had this serious look on his face that told Sam he was lost in thought. It happened when the angel's logical mind ran feverishly to grasp humans' emotions.

"I think I understand," he said with a confirming nod. "It's very much like angels' bonds. A very profound one is impossible to break."

Sam glanced over to Dean and Castiel, who failed miserably at pretending they weren't listening.

"You know," Patrick chirped, "actually we angels do have something very similar to personal space, too, but we just don't --"

And with that, the two angels disappeared.

"So much work to be done, my ass," Dean snorted.

~:~:~

Patrick didn't like being teleported somewhere without his consent, especially while he was talking to his charge (not _officially_ his charge, but he liked Sam enough he wanted to call it that), even though the one teleporting him was his superior.

So he finished his sentence when Castiel was not around, which was not easy to manage, by the way. He had to tell Dean to take Castiel to a bar, claiming that Castiel needed to let loose -- a trick he learned from being close with humans. He wasn't lying anyway, because Castiel really needed to relax and Dean was more than quick to agree to it and Castiel was obliged to go. After all, Dean's wish is Castiel's command, right?

After he told Sam the angelic secret, Sam's face flushed very deep red and he grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him very, very close and he leaned down to kiss him. Patrick knew that was the word humans used when their lips met. What he didn't know was that Sam would have to have his tongue groping all around inside his mouth, too, and he thought his vessel malfunctioned for a moment because his heart beat irrationally fast and his knees failed to keep his body erect.

Sam said it was normal human reaction, though, and Patrick was glad that he could respond to anything humanly.

Then Sam came up with an idea.

It was one late afternoon while they were hunting down a werewolf Dean was so eager to gank. Dean was cleaning their guns on his bed and Castiel was looking out the window, studying the moon and the stars or whatever it was he was doing, when Sam signaled for him to move. Patrick hopped on Dean's bed, poking his head mere inches away from Dean's face. Dean would have jumped if he hadn't been so familiar with the angel's childish fascination with everything human.

Patrick could see Castiel glaring at him from the corner of his eye.

"Dean?" he called, his voice cheery, as usual.

"What?" Dean growled, but Patrick had learned long ago that Dean wasn't angry. He only lowered his voice because he thought people would respect him if he did that, according to what Sam told him anyway.

"Can you do something for me, please?" Oh yes, he had learned to say please, too, and that if you want something you need to ask nicely, and make your eyes look like those of a puppy.

"Depends." Dean continued with the cleaning of his guns. He didn't move even though Patrick was hunching over his shoulder, and because of that one of his arms couldn't move so freely.

The angel leaned closer, just as Sam had told him to, and spoke softly into his ear. "Can you have sex with me, please?"

"What?" Dean pulled back with a frown, looking at the angel. Castiel turned fully to both of them now, and Patrick could swear (that is, if angels swore) that he could see _daggers_ coming from Castiel's glare. "Who told you to say that?"

"You had sex with two angels," Patrick said, gliding his hand smoothly up and down the front of Dean's chest (another thing Sam told him to do). "You wouldn't mind another one, would you?"

Dean scowled at Sam, who just observed the scene with his bitchy smirk, clearly entertained by what he saw.

"Okay, everyone, please get your facts straight. I did _not_ have sex with two angels, okay?" Dean said loud enough for the room to hear.

"Oh, right!" Patrick interjected. "Anna wasn't really an angel at the time, right?"

Dean rolled his eyes and Sam grinned wickedly wide. He had to give it to his boy. His angel was becoming smart, and he liked that about him.

Castiel just strode to the door.

"Cas, wait!" Dean shouted, getting up from the bed, but Cas was already out, slamming the door behind him. "Cas!"

Dean ran and he caught Cas in the hallway. "Cas, wait up." Dean tried to grab him but instead he was shoved into the wall so hard his body ached.

"Why didn't you back off?" Castiel snarled. This close, Dean could see when his eyes went fierce blue and his nose flared. Dean believed his feet were not touching the ground, but it wasn't like he could test that theory. He had to admit it was quite intimidating whenever the nerd angel was enraged.

"What?" Dean honestly had no idea what Castiel was talking about.

"Patrick. Why didn't you back off when he hit on you?" Castiel growled, holding Dean right in place.

Dean inwardly smirked. At least his angel was not as nerdy as he appeared to be. "What? You grope me all the time!"

"Only me," Castiel hissed, knocking Dean into the wall one more time, eliciting a painful groan from him. "Only me can invade your personal space. Do you understand, Dean Winchester?"

Dean gulped hard. He wasn't sure if it was because of the pain or because of the terrifying man in front of him -- or both. He didn't hear the grumpy old man walking down the corridor until the man told them to 'get a room.'

And a room was what they got.

In the blink of an eye Dean was in an empty motel room, pinned against the wall in the exact same position, Castiel still breathing on his face. The curtains were half-closed and the sky outside was getting darker by the minute. All Dean could see was Castiel's silhouette in front of him, so he shut his eyes, feeling Cas' weight on him, feeling his arms wrapping around the fabric of the tan trench coat, and feeling Cas' lips on his.

It felt like forever that Castiel stood there stiffly until Dean felt two hands clutching roughly at the back of his neck, and soon all that was left was hunger and a battle for dominance as they fought their way to the bed, shedding their clothes without breaking the kiss. By the time they reached the foot of the bed they were both stark naked and Dean _knew_ that must break some kind of record.

Dean dropped down on the bed on top of Cas, who reached an arm to turn on the bedside lamp. In the glowing light, Dean could see clearly how Cas was breathing hard, how his face flushed and how misty sweat formed all over his body. He looked straight at him with that intensity that pierced deep down into his soul.

Cas was beyond beautiful and all of a sudden Dean Winchester was at a loss.

"Let me," Castiel said with that loving look in his eyes as he flipped them over.

~:~:~

Another hunt ended. Turned out there was not only one werewolf, but a pack. If those two angels weren't with them, the Winchester boys might have joined their friends and family in heaven -- or hell. No one could really tell which way they would be headed.

"Oh, Sammy, you should have seen that pup when I cut into it, man. It freakin' yelped!" Dean was still high with adrenaline. Meanwhile Sam was so drained he felt like he could shatter into tiny pieces any moment. An angel he was, but Patrick was not as well-trained in battle as Castiel. Sam spent most of his time keeping an eye on him, worrying sick that his angel might become the wolves' feast.

"Shut up, Dean. I'm tired," he said wearily, removing his shoes, jacket and jeans. He collapsed down on the bed, taking Patrick with him and enfolding him like he would a giant teddy bear. A pattern of steady breath could be heard seconds later.

"Whoa, I didn't see that coming," Dean muttered, blinking in surprise at the tangled mess in front of him.

Castiel moved to stand next to Dean, looking at the sleeping boys on the bed. "Patrick had asked me if I could assign Sam as his charge," he said.

"Well, can you?" The thought of Sam having a guardian angel sounded nice to Dean. At least there would be someone who'd look after his brother, since he might not be around forever.

Castiel turned to face Dean. "I don't have to."

"What! Why?" Dean frowned. Did it mean Sam couldn't have an angel watching over him?

Castiel's face lit up into a sweet smile. "You know, for a hunter, you can be quite clueless sometimes."

Dean deliberately stepped closer, smirking with a challenging glint in his eyes. "Yeah?"

"Dean." Castiel's voice was gravelly, but the smile never left his face. "We've talked about this."

"About what?"

"Personal space."

Dean leaned in to the side of Castiel's face and _purred_ into his ear. "Take us back to that room and your personal space won't be the only thing I'll be invading."

Patrick snuck an eye open and saw the two men had gone. He giggled into Sam's chest, making the larger man squirm and hug him tighter. From today on, the Winchesters' two single beds wouldn't feel so big anymore with their angels curling in their arms.

\- THE END -

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are welcome!


End file.
